article: Rangers? Should Alter Draft Lottery Fate

[Giacomin]

That will be one hard working line. I guess we’ll see just how well Namestnikov can cover for line mates

 

:rofl:

 

Montreal had the French connection, we'll have the Russian Connection. :cheers:

 

They'll show renewed pride. Kovy will contemplate D, Buch will practice putting his shot on goal. Names will practice skating backwards and work on his stamina.

[Giacomin]

I was fine with moving AV out but the amount of blame he gets here for almost every player being nowhere near good enough is funny. How about they (Hayes, Vescey, Buch, Smith, and Names (to a lesser extent based on sample size) just to name a few ran out of talent and/or heart? I don't see any coach coming in here with a magical system that turns them into something they aren't. He would need to have ton of turd polish.

 

It doesn't matter, it was a total shit show, absolutely embarrassing on so many levels. The lockerroom sucked. The mix and chemistry fell apart. The talent was overmatched, the D abysmal. Teams adjusted to AV's style and found it easy to defend. Young players in general made more progress under other NHL coaches than our young guys. Can't fire and trade everyone at once, so the next move is a new leader, bringing a culture change, some staff, an emphasis on development and a fresh injection of ideas.

 

At a certain point things were so bad, guys look worse than they are. Some stability, a morale boost, a fresh voice, a more modern versatile system and attack will make a world of difference for some. Have no idea how bad we'll be until a lot more unfolds. We are moving in the right direction. It is a good time for everyone to look ahead. Lots to do. That's why it was a good message that AV was fired almost instantly.

[josh]

Was typing when you wrote this. Agree for the most part.

 

However, I think Kreider's jump came from within and he moved ahead despite AV. Zib is just tenacious and once he found his groove again (kreids and Fast helped) they were on their own. It was the only thing that worked besides Hayes. I give Hartford the credit for working with DeAngelo. Same for Pionk.

 

You can give AV credit for Fast and Hayes and pretty much nothing else. And it showed.

 

I?m not looking to give Av credit. I?m pointing out that there was an environment to try.

[Giacomin]

I’m not looking to give Av credit. I’m pointing out that there was an environment to try.

 

That's fair.

 

Still it was a 1 line team until the last few weeks when Hayes and his new line loosened up, had fun and played more aggresive. The rest were AHLers. The D was Skjei trying to do too much in terrible man-to-man system and Pionk flashing smarts, skill and plenty of mistakes. An injured DeAngelo, the rest is trash.

 

Basically, the environment was not suitable for building success or developing players. At least a few guys got a little experience. We scraped out a few meaningless wins on the backs of a few players excelling and goaltending, despite the coaching.

[Future]

Coach was a morale killer and the plan and system turned into a shitshow. Some guys like Skjei played bad because everything around them was breaking down. Guys try to do too much, etc. Skjei was making great rushes in the same game he'd have a terrible shift. I learned nothing about Skjei and neither did you. That D and gameplan was abysmal.

Effort is not dependent on gameplan and if it is, then you know the guys you can't win with.

[Future]

I’m pointing out that there was an environment to try.

Word

[Fatfrancesa]

I’m not looking to give Av credit. I’m pointing out that there was an environment to try.

 

I agree but that’s a pretty low expectation of a professional.